The old woman called Sara moved slowly behind the pillars bordering the small garden in the courtyard of the magnificent Cardolan ruin. The Eldar called this place Delossad, the Place of Abhorrence, on the rare times they spoke about it at all. There were some places in the Trollshaws the elves of Imladris never visited and rarely talked about, and Delossad was among them. It had been built by the ancient civilization of men who dwelled in the area before the Great Plague to serve some purpose, but its original purpose and name had long since been forgotten by the elves. Now the ruin was known simply as Delossad for the unsavoury air that surrounded it and the unsettling feeling that overcame anyone who wandered too close to it. Some great evil must have once been taken place there, for the land remembers many things the Eldar have forgotten and makes such memories known to them in the form of dreams and feelings. While the stone of the place had crumbled and delapidated, the garden in the courtyard looked like somebody was still tending and maintaining it.
Sara smiled to herself, her hands behind her back, and climbed the stairs behind the garden to the second floor of the ruin. There was a stone platform circling around the garden above it. Opposite the stairs there was a large solid oak door. Sara did not approach the door. Instead, she started walking along the platform until she came to an open, caged door of a prison cell. She walked inside the cell.
Near the back of the cell there stood a hooded man in dark robes. He crossed the floor slowly and came to stand before Sara. His breath smelled foul and his face, partially shadowed beneath the hood, looked pale and bloated.
”Why did you want to meet me?” He spoke Westron in a thick foreign accent. Sara had difficulties understanding him at times.
”Another one has come here from Gondor”, Sara said. ”I don’t know who he is or what he wants. All I know is that it must be about Laureanis and Maglor.”
”Is that a cause of concern for us?”
Sara smiled to the man. ”You tell me. I just thought your master in Mordor might like to know.”
”I don’t see the humor in this situation.”
”There is no humor in the soul of a Mordorian”, Sara said, in that moment revealing her contempt for the master they both served. She had never been to Mordor, not even when she had served under the Witch-king during his first reign over Angmar. Still, she felt like she could imagine what life was like in that accursed land just by talking to these secretive and paranoid people who had flocked into the Trollshaws over the past few years at Sauron’s behest.
”Is he a threat to our plans?”
”I don’t know. We both know the complexity of Sauron’s operation here. Perhaps the man from Gondor will be of help to us, perhaps not. Perhaps he will be a threat.”
”What will you do about him?” asked the man from Mordor.
”I will find out more about him. Keep an eye on him. I will make him afraid of me, and see what he will do about Laureanis.”
”Are you concerned about her?”
”Not as long as I can control her”, Sara said. ”If only I could understand what game she is playing.”
”This is not a game”, the man from Mordor said sternly.
”Not for you”, Sara smiled, her eyes mocking the man standing before him. ”For you, life is a constant struggle every day to even survive. There's no room for error, no time for enjoyment. Like the life of a dumb animal.”
”You mock me”, said the man from Mordor. ”But remember that Sauron’s plans are already under way. They cannot be delayed or stopped at this point. And if this man from Gondor presents a threat to Sauron’s plans…”
”Then he will be taken care of”, Sara said. ”Sauron has a long memory but he learns nothing.”
”Do you dare to scorn the Dark Lord?”
”Of course”, Sara said. ”I serve only my own self-interest. As long as serving the Dark Lord aligns with my own interests, I will serve Sauron. But those who have no plans of their own will be turned into pawns in somebody else’s game, and what do you think will happen to the pawns when the game is over? Do you think there is some great reward awaiting for you in the end for your blind loyalty and obedience?”
The man from Mordor said nothing.
